Pearl River, Louisiana to Kissimmee, Florida 12/2/2013

DECEMBER 2, 2013 (Monday)

Travel day. Long, long day but it was worth it to get to see the family in Slidell. So good to see everyone. Now it’s about the drive to Kissimmee, Florida – about a nine hour drive (approximately 600 miles). Much longer than we like to drive. We normally only like about a 5-6 hour day.

We were on the road by 9:00 AM, after having another wonderful breakfast at the Microtel. We stopped for gas ($3.09) in Pearl River, Louisiana, and again in Tallahassee, Florida ($3.59) when we stopped for lunch. We also stopped at a Visitor Center near Pensacola, Florida and bought a Sun Pass (for the toll roads).

Breakfast bar at the Microtel. It was very nice. Lex had waffles, I had biscuits and gravy, and Edie got a mushroom, cheese omlette. — Breakfast bar at the Microtel. It was very nice. Lex had waffles, I had biscuits and gravy, and Edie got a mushroom, cheese omelette.

Made to order omelet table. — Made to order omelette table.

When you travel the gulf states, there are bridges.

Always glad to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

USS Alabama. Too long a drive today to stop. We left it for another day.

Statues honoring aviation heroes at the Welcome Center.

Bought this so we could fly through the toll roads for the next 7 weeks. It is a transponder that takes care of the toll with a debit card. Went through the first toll station and the sign said, "Toll not collected" Stopped at the second toll station and the fellow told us he was reading our transponder just fine. Good grief. — Bought this so we could fly through the toll roads for the next 7 weeks. It is a transponder that takes care of the toll with a debit card. Went through the first toll station and the sign said, “Toll not collected.” Stopped at the second toll station and the fellow told us he was reading our transponder just fine. Good grief.

Lunch and dinner at Wendy's. — Lunch and dinner at Wendy’s.

We grumbled at this expensive fill up. 3.59 a gallon, yuck.

We made it to our resort (Vacation Village) at around 8:00 PM. (We gained another hour due to now being back on Eastern Standard Time.) We were directed to get our parking pass and were invited to a timeshare presentation tomorrow. We said yes, of course. We were bummed, though, that we don’t get discount tickets to Disney World. Gonna have to find some of those presentations as it is very expensive to get into Disney World.

This resort is huge. We’re in building 16. Not sure how many buildings they have but they’re each about ten stories high. We were told we’d be able to see the fireworks at Disney World but the trees block our view. We can hear them and see the colors in the sky, but can’t see the actual fireworks. Bummer. Looking forward to seeing what the resort looks like in the day time.

Our “home” is quite lovely. Granite counter tops, washer and dryer (yahoo!), nicely decorated, flat screen televisions, lovely patio area, huge jacuzzi tub and then another bathroom area with a large shower. It’s beautiful and large. They have wi-fi here. We got it free but not sure if that’s normally the case as they gave us codes to use. They offer mid-week cleaning if you want. The resort itself has a lot of activities (free and for cost).

Checkin at Vacation Village. Christmas has arrived. — Check in at Vacation Village. Christmas has arrived.

Our living room and dinning area. — Our living room and dining area.

Edie's favorite at a resort. — Edie’s favorite at a resort.

Bathroom, with a large shower and vanity.

That was our day. Hope yours was great!